Salinas man sentenced for lewd acts, threats to girls

A 31-year-old Salinas man received a six-year suspended prison sentence on Tuesday for committing lewd acts upon and threatening two Colton Middle School students, prosecutor Jeannine Pacioni said.

Rodriguez, a former Monterey Peninsula Unified School District bus driver, touched two students, ages 12 and 13, in October 2013, Pacioni said. Further, Rodriguez threatened to rape one of the children at her house.

Both girls immediately "ran from the bus to a parent in order to report the threats." The parent then called the police, prosecutors said.

Witnesses on the bus told investigators that Rodriguez played an explicit video on his phone for the children. He also played songs with inappropriate lyrics on his person boom box and singled one of the girls out with his attention, the witnesses said.

Monterey County Superior Court Judge Carrie Panetta sentenced Carlos Dominguez Rodriguez III to a year in jail prior to his release on probation. He'll be on probation for three years.

Per the suspended sentence "if he violates (the terms of his probation) in the next three years, he'll go to prison for six years," Pacioni explained.

He will also be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life and be prohibited from owning a cell phone equipped with a camera "due to his prior surreptitious photographing of females," according to a release from the Monterey County District Attorney's office.